100-year-old house in Hemphill burns to the ground

TERESA MIOLI

Published 12:00 am, Monday, July 5, 2010

The Pratt House before, during and after the July 3 fire that destroyed the 100-year-old home. The photo at the left is courtesy of the City of Hemphill website and shows the house before it was moved to its present location. The other two photos are courtesy of ToledoChronicle.com.

The historic Pratt House in Hemphill was completely destroyed after it caught on fire Saturday afternoon around 4:30 p.m.

Donna Alexander was working at her store, The Clothes Horse, when she saw fire trucks speeding past her business. When she walked outside and saw black smoke coming from the direction of the Pratt House, she said she knew it had to be coming from the old home.

The foundation has been working for several years to restore the 100-year-old Greek revival-style home.

Robert Hays, a 71-year-old Nederland resident, was visiting the lake when he saw black smoke plumes and watched the building burn to the ground in about 30 minutes.

"It was hopeless," Hays said. "It shot up like a matchbox."

The house was built by George Edward Pratt, whose family was among those who helped to build Hemphill, Alexander said. The Pratts owned a mercantile company where they sold goods like food, clothing and feed.

The historical foundation obtained ownership of the house from First Baptist Church in the early 2000s, Alexander said.

The foundation had to move the building and raised $150,000 to relocate the house to land that originally belonged to the Pratt family.

Funds from grants were used to install sprinkler systems. Alexander said the group hosted civil war reenactments at the site to raise money for further renovation.

"A lot of people have put in a lot of time and effort and money to help raise the funds and do a lot of genealogy on the family and the history," Alexander said.

The inside of the house was not equipped with electricity, but Alexander said there was an electric box attached to a column on the house's porch.

The fire is under investigation and a state fire marshal is expected to visit Hemphill this week, Alexander said.